Nature park praises visiting parents for keeping children distanced on reopened play area

Kids party at Pensthorpe Natural Park. Playing in Hootz House and Wild Rootz. Photo : Steve Adams (Image: Steve Adams 2018 : 07398 238853)

Pensthorpe nature park in Fakenham reopened its outdoor playground WildRootz on July 8 following more easing of the lockdown measures.

Jo Artherton, Marketing & PR Manager at Pensthorpe believes that it is parents who are making sure children are Covid safe when using the playground.

She said: “We have put it down to the parents to make sure their children are sanitized when using the playground.

“In normal circumstances, we have staff monitoring what’s going on in the indoor play area - we have transferred to this the outside play area.

After a long break Pensthorpe Natural Park is looking wonderful in the sunshine. (Image: (c) copyright newzulu.com)

“One of my colleagues who manages the playground has said everyone is following it and that we have very good and kind visitors who are all taking it seriously.

“They make sure people are sticking to the rules, to put people at ease and to help out.”

The park, which reopened to the public on July 1 has placed a one-way system in the attraction, along with hand sanitizer stations and ‘welcome guests’ which monitor how many people are coming into the park.

They also explain the changes, including what is going on with the cafe and monitor the number of families coming in to control the play area.

Kids party at Pensthorpe Natural Park. Playing in Hootz House and Wild Rootz. Photo : Steve Adams (Image: Steve Adams 2018 : 07398 238853)

When asked what the park will do if someone does not follow the rules, Mrs Artherton said she does not believe the park will have that problem.

“I don’t think it would ever happen here, we don’t get bad behaviour, they are very conscious of what’s around them and well behaved”, she said.

The park is still slowly returning to normal, with the cafe still only offering takeaway services and the indoor play area closed while they wait for new government guidelines.

Reflecting on the reopening, Mrs Artherton added: “It has been very successful, we are very pleased and our visitors are delighted we can open up as families who are wanting to visit us, see the wildlife and let off some steam. We are really pleased about how things are going.”